One in Fifty Adults are Prohibited from Voting

An estimated 4.6 million Americans—1 in 50 adults—are barred from votingbecause of a felony conviction. 1.6 million of those barred from voting are people with felony convictions who have completed their sentences. African- American and Latino communities are disproportionately affected by the disfranchisement of criminal offenders- 13 percent of African-American men are barred from voting. More than one third of the total disfranchised population are black men. In seven states, more than one in four African-American men are permanently disfranchised. Given current rates of incarceration, three in ten of the next generation of black men are expected to be disfranchised at some point in their lives, and in states that permanently disfranchise citizens with a felony record, as many as 40 percent of black men may permanently lose their right to vote.